It is always important to know when something has reached its end. Closing circles, shutting doors, finishing chapters, it doesn’t matter what we call it; what matters is to leave in the past those moments in life that are over.
—The Zahir, Paulo Coelho
That is why it is so important to let certain things go. To release them. To cut loose. People need to understand that no one is playing with marked cards; sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Don’t expect to get anything back, don’t expect recognition for your efforts, don’t expect your genius to be discovered or your love to be understood. Complete the circle. Not out of pride, inability or arrogance, but simply because whatever it is no longer fits in your life. Close the door, change the record, clean the house, get rid of the dust. Stop being who you were and become who you are.
—The Zahir, Paulo Coleho
‘What do you know about poverty?’ The tall, aggressive man, who now has even more vodka in his veins, looks straight at me. ‘Do you really think that poverty has to do with having no money? Do you think we’re miserable wretches just because we go around begging money from rich writers and guilt-ridden couples, from tourists who think how terribly squalid Paris has become or from idealistic young people who think they can save the world? You’re the one who’s poor—you have no control over your time, you can’t do what you want, you’re forced to follow rules you didn’t invent and which you don’t understand…’
—The Zahir, Paulo Coleho (pg. 217)
Tigers Jaw
(Source: moshrcise, via makemestfu)
We would be together and have our books and at night be warm in bed together with the windows open and the stars bright.
—Ernest Hemingway. (via theliterarydreamer)
(Source: seabois, via theliterarydreamer)
In a child’s eyes, a mother is a goddess. She can be glorious or terrible, benevolent or filled with wrath, but she commands love either way. I am convinced that this is the greatest power in the universe.
—N.K. Jemisin, A Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite. It actually takes guts. Each time we drop our complaints and allow everyday good fortune to inspire us, we enter the warrior’s world.
—Pema Chodron
Eventually you forgive people for not knowing about you the things you’ve spent your life keeping from them.
—Robert Brault
That is the saddest part when you lose someone you love—that person keeps changing. And later you wonder, is this the same person I lost?
—Amy Tan, “The Kitchen God’s Wife”
My solitude doesn’t depend on the presence or absence of people; on the contrary, I hate who steals my solitude without, in exchange, offering me true company.
—Friedrich Nietzsche
